Wednesday 4 April 2012

20th ASEAN Summit in Cambodia


20th ASEAN Summit
Yingluck Shinawatra, the Prime Minister of Thailand, will join other ASEAN leaders at the upcoming 20th ASEAN Summit to be hosted by Cambodia on 3-4 April 2012.

The Prime Minister will leave from U-Tapao airport on April 2 at 4:30 p.m. for Phnom Penh, where Prime Minister Hun Sen is scheduled to host a welcome dinner at 7:00 p.m. on the same day at the Peace Palace.

Cambodia officially assumed the one-year rotating chairmanship of ASEAN from Indonesia in December 2011. The opening of the 20th ASEAN Summit will be held at 9:30 a.m. on April 3, followed by the celebration of the 45th anniversary of ASEAN. During the ASEAN Summit, ASEAN leaders will meet members of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly and civil society organization and youth representatives. King Norodom Sihamoni will host a royal state banquet in honor of ASEAN leaders on April 3 at Khemarin Palace.

Yingluck Shinawatra
After the ASEAN Summit on April 4, Prime Minister Yingluck will on the same day attend the sixth Indonesia – Malaysia – Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) meeting at the Peace Palace to consider the IMT-GT Action Plan for 2012-2016.

In the upcoming ASEAN Summit, Prime Minister Yingluck will push for various issues initiated by Thailand, such as disaster management, efforts to tackle haze pollution, and ASEAN connectivity. At the 19th ASEAN Summit in Indonesia in November 2011, Prime Minister Yingluck proposed the issue of preparedness for handling disasters and the establishment of a joint disaster management center. The proposal was also linked with the severe flooding situation in Thailand and led to the ASEAN statement on cooperation in flood prevention, mitigation, relief, recovery, and rehabilitation.

Regarding haze pollution, ASEAN member countries signed the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution in 2002. The agreement called on ASEAN countries to cooperate in developing and implementing measures to prevent and monitor transboundary haze pollution, and to control sources of fires by developing early warning systems, to exchange information and technology, and to provide mutual assistance.

20th ASEAN Summit
Since ASEAN aims to establish the ASEAN Community by 2015, Thailand proposed the idea of enhancing ASEAN connectivity as a strategic goal of ASEAN. This initiative was endorsed with the adoption of the ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on ASEAN Connectivity at the 15th ASEAN Summit, held in Thailand in October 2009.

Also at the 20th ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Prime Minister Yingluck will call for the inclusion of the fight against drugs into the ASEAN agenda. ASEAN member countries agreed to bring forward the creation of a drug-free ASEAN by 2015. The present Thai government attaches great importance to drug prevention and control, and it has urged ASEAN Member States to work in unison against drugs.

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